


Cozy & Tender

by Vox (Akumeoi)



Category: No. 6 - Asano Atsuko
Genre: Domestic, Fluff, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2014-12-25
Packaged: 2018-03-03 09:56:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2846846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumeoi/pseuds/Vox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shion builds a blanket fort just for Nezumi, but Nezumi can't hold the fort all by himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cozy & Tender

**Author's Note:**

> Secret Santa present for tiny_sweet_potato. (That is an excellent name, my friend). Their prompt for me was 'Cosy & Tender Nezushi.' I hope this hits the spot!
> 
> Backstory: They're in college. Also dating. Also sharing an apartment. Hooray.

“Why is this place so cold?”

“Why is that stupid light so bright?”

“Why are the neighbours so noisy? Fucking Inukashi.” 

Since the moment he’d woken up that morning, everything that had come out of Nezumi’s mouth had been a complaint.

Shion could not figure out why. Maybe he was getting sick? In any case, it was most distressing to him that Nezumi seemed so off, and would not even give him a straight answer about why. Every time he tried to ask, the conversation when a little like this:

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Go away.”

Something had to be done. 

Given all the comments Nezumi had been making about the temperature, the light, and the neighbours, Shion only had to think for a bit before the idea struck. Clearly, it would be better for everyone if Nezumi could just hide away somewhere small and cosy. How about a blanket fort? 

At first, when Shion started stripping the sheets off the bed and piling them on the floor in the living room, Nezumi pretended not to notice. He elected to glue his nose to his book and scowl down at the pages as if he were reading about the current state of the economy instead of a normal paperback novel. Then, Shion started pushing the sofa away from the wall, and Nezumi tapped his foot in impatience. When Shion came back in, half-carrying, half-dragging the box-spring from the bed, Nezumi snapped. 

“Shion, what the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m building a fort for you!”

“You’re building a fort. Shion, do you think I’m five years old?”

“No,” Shion said, a little bit hurt. “But I do think you’ll like it.”

“Hmph.”

Nezumi went back to his book, apparently too grumpy to waste the energy on arguing further. 

Shion placed the box spring he’d brought in opposite the back of the sofa, then started spreading sheets and blankets across them so that they formed a sort of square-shaped tent. After anchoring the sheets on both sides with some textbooks he had lying around, he began to gather all the pillows from the beds and sofas to put inside the blanket fort. Lastly, he threw in all the extra blankets from the linen closet, to make sure the inside of the fort would be nice and warm and snug. 

The finished fort was not a thing of beauty – from the outside, anyway. It was boxy and lumpy, and had a bunch of physics and chemistry books weighing down the edges. But the inside – ah, the inside was warm, snug, and just right for one person – or two people, in a pinch, if they were good friends. Or, you know, boyfriends.

Nezumi was still pretending not to be interested in Shion’s creation. But when Shion came back into the room after grabbing a drink from the kitchen, he found that Nezumi had vacated his chair and was nowhere to be found. 

Shion lifted the sheet draped over the end of the fort. 

“Hey! Put that back. You’re letting in a draft.”

There was Nezumi, snuggled up inside the fort, with his book. He looked like a dragon reclining on a horde of pillows. Shion smiled. 

“Is it comfy?” he asked. 

“Yeah, it’s great. Now close the curtain.”

So Shion backed out and let the sheet drape back into place. 

He heard a startled exclamation from inside. 

“Hey! You – what – Shion!”

“Huh?”

“You – ugh. Fine. I see how it is. Just go away.”

There was a distinct tone of annoyance in Nezumi’s voice – that in and of itself wasn’t worrisome, but Shion felt like he had done something wrong, and he wasn’t sure why. Surely Nezumi didn’t expect him to waste his afternoon sitting around in the fort – he had things to do, after all. Things like cook and clean and get the rest of this place in order, not to mention taking care of their three pet rats. 

So, against his better judgement, Shion wandered off to do all those things by himself.

Nezumi stayed in the fort all day. He emerged once to use the bathroom, but he didn’t talk to Shion at all. He did not come out for lunch. Even though Shion made home-made muffins, and the smell wafted around the little apartment, deliciously enticing.

At dinner time, Shion dithered around in the kitchen for a little while, wondering whether he should invite Nezumi to the table (as if he ever actually ate there) or just leave him be. Finally, he decided to go just bring Nezumi some dinner and see if he couldn’t coax Nezumi to eat it inside. After disappearing into the kitchen, Shion reappeared with a tray laden with soup, toast, and one of the muffins he had made.

“Hello?” he said to the still, unmoving lump he could vaguely see through the slitted opening of the draped sheets. 

“What?” Nezumi grumbled, in a voice which clearly said he was still annoyed with Shion. 

“I brought you some food…”

“Just leave it outside.”

Shion set the tray down, but he really didn’t want to leave. Not with Nezumi sounding so grumpy and pathetic. He was half-tempted to just go in there anyway. What else did he have to do today? Well, he had already fed the rats… 

An arm pushed aside the flap of the makeshift door, and Nezumi’s head followed. He looked up at Shion. “Didn’t I tell you to go away?”

Squatting down so he’d be at Nezumi’s level, Shion said, “Nezumi, are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Leave me alone.” 

His eye fell on the tray. “Soup? How’m I supposed to eat that in here, huh? You dumbass.”

“Maybe if you sat up…” Shion suggested. 

Nezumi scowled. He picked up the muffin and disappeared back into the pillow fort. 

Shion was not satisfied. 

“Aren’t you going to eat it, then?”

“No.”

“Nezumi, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Go away.”

Sighing, Shion pushed the tray to the side and climbed into the pillow fort. 

Inside, it was nice and warm and dark. When Shion’s eyes adjusted to the dim, soft light, he saw that Nezumi had made a little nest for himself out of the pillows at the far end of the fort, with his back to the sofa. He was lying curled up in this little nest with a blanket wrapped around his legs and feet, propped up on one elbow like an indolent cat – er, rat. The Island of Doctor Moreau was lying within reach of his right hand, which was currently holding the muffin. It was so peaceful and snug in there that Shion found himself with an overwhelming urge to just curl up beside Nezumi and fall asleep. 

Peaceful except for Nezumi’s expression. He didn’t say anything as Shion scooted closer to him, instead continuing to munch on his muffin and glare at Shion in silence. He watched as Shion lay down on his stomach and wriggled his way forward until he and Nezumi were lying face to face with each other. It wasn’t easy to fit across from Nezumi because of how Nezumi’s feet were bunched up, and as Nezumi had piled all the cushions around him, it wasn’t particularly comfortable to be on the edge of the pile. But those weren’t really concerns to Shion. He just wanted to know what was wrong with Nezumi and if he could do anything about it. 

On the other hand, he had no idea what to say. So he waited until Nezumi finished the muffin and handed him the wrapper. 

“Eh?”

“You gave it to me. Now deal with it.”

Shion sighed, scooted back out, deposited the wrapper on the tray, and scooted back in again. He found that Nezumi had uncurled his legs and redistributed the pillows somewhat, so that his resting place this time was much more comfortable. 

So… did Nezumi want company after all?

“Nezumi –” Shion began, but Nezumi just scowled even harder. “Are you –”

“Since you’ve finally decided to join me, why don’t you shut your pie hole and enjoy the silence, idiot?” Nezumi said. His tone was aggressive, but there wasn’t much energy in his voice. 

Seeing as he didn’t have many options left, Shion rolled onto his back, folded his arms on the pillow behind him (one of the throw pillows that normally lived on the chair) and laid his head down, turned towards Nezumi. He opened his mouth one more time, but when Nezumi stared at him again, he hastily shut it. Then, as Nezumi was still staring, he also decided to look up at the blankets arcing over their heads. A soft yellow glow was coming through them, thanks to the ceiling light outside. 

There were a few moments of silence, and Shion shut his eyes. Even though he was very comfortable, he couldn’t imagine falling asleep. He didn’t want Nezumi to be angry with him, and it was worrying him that Nezumi was still sulking after so long. The temptation to open his eyes again was strong, but he forced himself to keep them tightly shut. 

He felt pressure on his ribs and his eyes popped open. Nezumi had gotten closer to him and put one arm over Shion’s chest. Now he threw one leg over both of Shion’s, then used one arm to arrange the blanket over both of them. Shion felt as if he were being used as an overlarge teddy bear, or perhaps a living body pillow. 

But… he couldn’t deny that it was nice, to have Nezumi’s warmth pressed up against him, in this small, safe space. Nezumi’s breath gently caressed his cheek. He only wished Nezumi wasn’t lying on his arm, so he could wrap it around him. Instead, he lifted his free arm and laid it across his own chest, in line with Nezumi’s arm. Shion watched their entwined arms rise and fall with his breaths, hoping that this meant all was forgiven. 

“See, it’s not so bad to spend some time with your boyfriend, is it?” Nezumi said, his tone accusatory. Shion neglected to remind him that he had been the one to build the whole fort in the first place.

“Have you been having fun in here?”

“I finished my book,” Nezumi said petulantly. The subtext to this complaint was that he hadn’t wanted to leave to get another one.

“You could have asked me to bring you something else.”

“Not like you were listening to me.”

Shion rolled his eyes. 

“Look, I’m here now, okay?”

“Only after you wasted the whole day doing stupid stuff no one cares about,” Nezumi griped. Shion started gently stroking Nezumi’s arm, and he fell silent, pacified. 

Shion closed his eyes again, and was nearly drifting off to sleep when Nezumi said, “I’m hungry.”

“You want the soup? It’s probably still warm.”

“Yes,” Nezumi said expectantly. 

“Are you going to let me go?”

“Mmmm…”

Nezumi rolled away and Shion sat up with a sigh. He retrieved the tray and held it helpfully on his lap while Nezumi polished off the entire bowl, and the toast on the side too. When he was done, Shion left the fort to take the tray back to the kitchen. 

When he came back, it was with a book. He found Nezumi stretched out on his stomach, facing the far end of the blanket fort. After carefully closing the blanket flaps so they wouldn’t let in any more light than was necessary, Shion dropped The Complete Poetical Works of John Keats in front of Nezumi’s nose and lay down on his side, facing Nezumi. 

The smooth, broad expanse of Nezumi’s back was very tempting. Shion reached out a hand and placed it between Nezumi’s shoulder blades. 

When Nezumi didn’t react at all, Shion began gently stroking Nezumi’s back, starting from the top and going from Nezumi’s shoulder all the way down to just above the waistband of Nezumi’s jeans. 

Nezumi let out a soft little sigh and hugged the pillow that was under his head. Though his shirt was in the way, Shion could still feel the bumpy ridge of Nezumi’s spine, the smooth planes of his shoulderblades, and the soft, rough patch of his scar. He wished that he could ask Nezumi to take his shirt off without sounding like he was trying to start something. Because he really wasn’t. It was just such a pleasure to be able to feel Nezumi’s smooth skin beneath his palms, to know that Nezumi was real and that he was beside him. At the moment, feeling his solid, warm presence, along with his quiet, steady breathing was good enough. He delicately swept Nezumi’s hair off to one side and continued stroking his back with long, steady motions.

Nezumi cracked one eyelid open and Shion found their eyes meeting. Though Nezumi’s mouth was half hidden by the cushion, Shion thought he saw Nezumi’s lips curve up just slightly. Awkwardly reaching up with one hand, Nezumi took Shion’s arm and guided it away from his back. For a moment, Shion was disappointed, until Nezumi pressed Shion’s hand against his cheek. He held it there for a moment, with his eyes closed. 

“Your cheek is so soft,” Shion said wonderingly. 

“You airhead.”

“But it is. It’s like velvet.”

Nezumi sighed, apparently unwilling to muster the energy to continue complaining about Shion’s intelligence. Instead, he opened his eyes, looked Shion straight in the face, and kissed the hand that he was holding.

The look in Nezumi’s clear grey eyes could only be described as tender. That soft, patient kindness in those eyes nearly brought Shion to tears, far more than the equally soft touch of Nezumi’s lips into his palm. At the end of the day, he and Nezumi were together, in this cosy, snug space. And Nezumi loved him. That was all he’d ever need to know.

Nezumi pressed himself up against Shion, fitting one arm underneath his waist and throwing the other over him. Shion found himself hugging Nezumi full-frontal, with the crown of Nezumi’s head just under his chin.

“You’re not going anywhere, are you?” Nezumi murmured into Shion’s front, as if he were actually worried about inconveniencing Shion. Of course Nezumi wouldn’t let him go now. Not that he wanted to leave.

“Of course not.”

Nezumi kissed Shion’s chest. 

And the two of them lay entwined, beating hearts and breathing lungs moving in harmonious unison, until morning came.


End file.
